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Blazar nature of high-z radio-loud quasars

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arxiv 2203.09527 v2 pith:T5424YM7 submitted 2022-03-17 astro-ph.HE

Blazar nature of high-z radio-loud quasars

classification astro-ph.HE
keywords blazarjetspopulationclassificationmustquasarssourcesactive
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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We report on the Swift/XRT observation and classification of eleven blazar candidates at $z>4$. These sources were selected as part of a sample of extremely radio-loud quasars, in order to focus on quasars with jets oriented roughly close to our line-of-sight. Deriving their viewing angles and their jets bulk Lorentz factors was crucial for a strict blazar classification, and it was possible only thanks to X-ray observations. Out of eleven sources, five show strong and hard X-ray fluxes, that allow their blazar classification, two are uncertain, three host relativistic jets that we observe just outside their beaming cone (i.e. are not strictly blazars), while one went undetected by Swift/XRT. Following this approach, we were able to trace the $>10^9M_\odot$ active supermassive black hole population hosted in jetted active galactic nuclei. At $z\geq4$ the massive jetted sources are likely predominant in the overall quasar population: this calls for a deep review of our understanding of the first supermassive black holes formation and evolution. Jets are indeed key actors in fast accretion, and must be searched for across the whole high redshift quasar population. A note of caution must be added: radio-loudness and in general radio features at high redshifts seem not to perfectly reflect high-energy properties. A strong effect due to interaction with CMB radiation is surely in place, that quenches the radio emission with respect to the X-rays, but also more frequent occasions for the jet to be bent seem to play a relevant role in this matter. Classifications and population studies thus must be carefully performed, in order not to be confused by these inconsistencies.

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Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. From compact jets to extended lobes: radio morphologies of distant quasars at z > 4

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 accept novelty 6.0

    Three z>4 quasars are resolved into kiloparsec-scale radio structures: two bent, FR II-like double-lobed sources and one compact one-sided jet.